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There’s a pretty strong argument to be made at this stage that Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson is the best fighter in the history of MMA, period. If he can beat Henry Cejudo this weekend at UFC 227 to defend his UFC Flyweight title, not only will he be closing in on six years with the belt, but he’ll also have set another new record for successive title defences with 12.
Johnson has seemingly been untouchable for longer than almost any other fighter, but Cejudo should take heart from the fact that some others have had success against ‘Mighty Mouse’ – even if they ended up losing in the end. Here are 5 times that Johnson was in trouble in the Octagon.
Honourable Mention: vs. Dominick Cruz, UFC on Versus 6 – 10/01/11
‘Mighty Mouse’ suffered his only UFC defeat to then-Bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz at UFC on Versus 6 in what was an unsuccessful title challenge for him prior to the Flyweight division being introduced to the promotion. But it was a fascinating fight as Cruz never came close to finishing Johnson and essentially just managed to outpoint the future legend.
At no point did Johnson look in real danger, and in the end it was largely Cruz’s size that allowed him to win out using his grappling, as the striking exchanges in the fight were basically even. So while he was clearly beaten, this fight can’t count towards a list of moments that saw ‘Mighty Mouse’ in trouble.
#1 vs. Miguel Torres, UFC 130 – 05/28/11
This was the win that netted Johnson his Bantamweight title match with Dominick Cruz, but in reality, former WEC champ Torres probably did enough to take the decision, as all three judges seemed more swayed by Mighty Mouse’s takedowns and time on top than they were with Torres’s myriad sweeps and submission attempts. In the end, Johnson took a unanimous decision with all three judges going 29-28.
Torres though had Johnson in trouble on numerous occasions throughout the fight. He attempted chokes, leglocks and guillotines in the first round, had Mighty Mouse caught in a kimura and an inverted triangle choke in the second round, and then hit a sweep into full mount in the third round, although he couldn’t capitalise on the position.
None of the submission attempts came truly close to finishing Johnson, but this fight remains one of the only examples of the current Flyweight kingpin being forced largely into a defensive game plan from start to finish – and probably should’ve marked his first UFC loss.
#2 vs. Ian McCall, UFC on FX 2 – 03/03/12
When the UFC introduced the Flyweight division with a four-man tournament to decide the inaugural champion in 2012, it was ‘Uncle Creepy’ Ian McCall, rather than Johnson, who was considered the favourite to win, largely based on his impressive wins on the smaller circuit at 125lbs. And with different judges, it would’ve been him and not Mighty Mouse who went on to face Joseph Benavidez for the title.
After two close rounds, the third clearly went McCall’s way – and indeed, the end of the round, with ‘Uncle Creepy’ pounding on a completely defensive Johnson from a dominant back mount, probably remains the closest that Mighty Mouse has ever come to being stopped in his UFC career. In the end, it was only the fact that McCall chose to showboat a little too much that saved Johnson, as the round ended before ‘Uncle Creepy’ could land the killer flurry.
Unfortunately for McCall, the judges scored the fight as a majority draw – and in the rematch three months later Johnson clearly outpointed him to take the win and advance to the tournament final. But for viewers today, the sight of McCall hammering on Johnson from back mount is shocking – and should give a wrestler the calibre of Cejudo some hope going into this weekend.
#3 vs. Joseph Benavidez, UFC 152 – 09/22/12
While their rematch fifteen months later was a blowout – Johnson knocked out Benavidez in the first round – the first fight between Mighty Mouse and Team Alpha Male’s top Flyweight for the inaugural UFC 125lbs title was incredibly close to call. In the end, Johnson was awarded the decision after doing just about enough to outpoint Benavidez, but the fourth round saw him in a lot of trouble.
The round had just begun when Benavidez avoided a takedown attempt and stunned Johnson with a big right hand, sending him down hard. Badly hurt, Johnson instinctively shot in for a takedown, only for Benavidez to grab hold of the trademark Team Alpha Male guillotine choke. The fight looked over as he ended up in a mounted position with Mighty Mouse still stuck in the submission, but somehow – after kicking his legs for leverage – Johnson was able to escape and survive the round.
The fight ended in a split decision – one judge going with Benavidez and the other two with Johnson – but there was no question who’d come closest to finishing the fight, and under PRIDE rules – where the fight was scored as a whole – Benavidez probably would’ve had his hand raised.
#4 vs. John Dodson, UFC on Fox 6 – 01/26/13
Johnson’s first title defense came just four months after he won the Flyweight crown, and this fight was also arguably the closest he came to losing his newly-won title, too. Coming into the fight, the feeling was that opponent John Dodson would be an extremely dangerous foe due to his incredible punching power and unbelievable speed, and that proved to be true – especially in the second round.
After finding it hard to establish his range in the first round, Dodson suddenly found a lot of success in the second and began to land his counter left hand as the champion pushed forward. A combination had Johnson down midway through the round, and when he got back to his feet, he found himself badly hurt and dropped again by Dodson’s big left hand. Despite having the champ in a lot of trouble though, Dodson was unable to finish Mighty Mouse off.
That proved to be his undoing, as by the time the third round began, Johnson had adjusted to avoid Dodson’s heavy counters, and then began to wear him out from the clinch – nullifying his apparent speed advantage – and the fourth and fifth rounds clearly went to the champion, allowing him to take a unanimous decision. It was a gutsy performance from Johnson – but five years on it also stands as evidence that Mighty Mouse can be hurt.
#5 vs. Timothy Elliott, Ultimate Fighter XXIV Finale – 12/03/16
By mid-2016 it had become pretty clear that Johnson had developed into one of the greatest champions in UFC history, and after beating Henry Cejudo – who it must be said, was probably given his initial title shot too early – the list of contenders for his crown was looking thin. So the UFC put together a series of The Ultimate Fighter to find the next challenger – bringing champions from outside the UFC in to create a tournament loaded with talent.
In the end though, it was Timothy Elliott – a fighter who’d washed out of the UFC in 2015 with three straight losses – who won the season and earned his title shot. Nobody was really giving him a chance against the UFC’s most dominant champion, and yet he came closer than anyone had done in years to defeating Mighty Mouse – surprisingly enough, by using his grappling.
The first round began with a wild scramble following a Johnson takedown, and incredibly enough, Elliott came out on top, gaining side mount before locking up a tight-looking guillotine. Although Johnson managed to free himself from that, Elliott then locked him into a D’Arce choke – and for a moment at least, it looked like one of the biggest upsets in UFC history was about to happen.
Johnson was able to free himself from that predicament largely through sheer toughness, but in the waning seconds of the round, he found himself in deep trouble again – this time after Elliott stunned him with a left hand and almost put him down face-first.
In the end though, Mighty Mouse survived the round despite being in trouble, and from there he made the correct adjustments – using his grappling but not taking too many risks – to clearly take the remaining four rounds. But although he won the fight, Elliott showed he was human – and that even against a champion the calibre of Johnson, an upset is always possible.
